This invention relates to mechanical governors for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to mechanical governors for small engines like those used on lawnmowers, snow blowers and the like.
A number of mechanical governors are known for controlling the speed of an internal combustion engine. Such governors typically control engine speed by controlling the amount of fuel delivered by the carburetor to the combustion chamber. More specifically, the governor is typically connected to a throttle lever which in turn is connected to the engine throttle.
Typical prior art mechanical governors have an arm or lever which extends horizontally through a wall in the engine housing and is then connected to the carburetor by one or more bell cranks. This typical prior art governor has several disadvantages. First, an oil seal is required to seal the hole located on the side of the engine housing. The oil seal is necessary to prevent oil from the engine crankcase leaking out of the engine housing.
A second disadvantage of the typical prior art governor is that additional components such as bell cranks are necessary to link the horizontally-extending arm with the throttle lever of the carburetor. These extra components are required because the position and movement of the crank arm in such governors typically do not permit a simple linkage between the crank arm and the throttle lever. The requirement of bell crank levers increases the cost of the governor, necessitates additional moving parts which wear out, and also makes the governor unnecessarily complicated.